"Damn. Hasn't even been that long and you got a whole rock on your finger now, huh?" "...What are you doing here?" She unthinkingly rubbed her swollen belly, the tight knots forming in her stomach at the same time. "What you mean? I came for the art." His tone was sarcastic as he gestured at the paintings on the walls. She watched his eyes drift down her body, before he tightly clenched his jaw. "But I see I have more than one thing to congratulate you on." He said, bitterly. • • • • • • 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛? ❤️‍🩹👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟸 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 (𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚕)

"So you just wanna fuck me forever, and that's it, huh?" "I ain't say-" He sucked his teeth. "We already talked about this shit, Z." "Nah." She chuckled dryly. "You just keep shutting me out." "Why you doin' this to me, Ma?" He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hm? Why you tryna fuck everything up?" • • • • • • 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚗-𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚌, 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 💌👻 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟷 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚅𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜

Since I was sixteen I've always known the kind of life I wanted for myself. I wanted the love. The peace. The happiness. The marriage. The family. The home. But sometimes life doesn't always go as planned. Instead of getting what I wanted, I got what I needed. I got lessons. I got heartbreaks that forced me to grow. I got silence that taught me how to listen to myself. I got endings that pushed me toward new beginnings. And even though it wasn't easy, every detour shaped me into the person I am today. Stronger. Wiser. More passionate about the life I'm still building. And despite all of that, I still want the love. The peace. The happiness. The marriage. The family. The home. I still want it all. Because no matter how many times life has tested me, the desire for those things has never left. It's only grown stronger. ~ Crystal

Xander King is the ultimate "holy" deception. As the son of the city's most famous Bishop, he's royalty in a three-piece suit. On Sunday mornings, he's the perfect heir to the pulpit. But when the sun goes down, the suit comes off, and the King of the streets comes out to play. Xander doesn't just run the city's underground-he owns it. He's got the money, the power, and a line of women who know better than to ask for his heart. Then there's Charity. She's the girl who just traded her old life for a Bible and a fresh start. She's trying to be "good," and when she looks at Xander, she sees a man who's just as lost as she used to be. She thinks she can save him. She thinks his cold stares are just a shield for a broken soul. But Xander isn't looking to be saved. He's fighting a war on every front: his father's impossible expectations, a past that won't stay buried, and the dangerous pull he feels toward a girl who's too pure for his world. When a body drops and a murder investigation hits too close to the church, the polished mask starts to slip. Charity is about to find out that the man she's falling for isn't a misunderstood saint-he's the devil in the front row. In this city, the only thing more dangerous than a sinner is someone Unholy.

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 𝖠𝗎𝗋𝗈𝗋𝖺 𝖽𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝖺𝗇 𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗈𝖼𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗃𝗈𝖻 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗌𝗎𝖻𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗍𝗎𝗍𝖾 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖿𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗈𝗋 𝗂𝗌 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗈𝗇 𝗆𝖺𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗏𝖾. 𝖶𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖾 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗌𝖾𝗌 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗓𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗇 𝖺 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝖽𝗈 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇. 𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗓𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝖽𝗂𝖿𝖿𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗀𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍?

four stories, one book. For one reason or another, these eight individuals never had luck with love. Whether it's because they're too stuck up, too "wrapped up in their work," or just too damn stupid, they just can't seem to seal the deal on having long term partners in their lives. Until they meet each other. Follow along this journey of adventures, adversities, laughter, and a whole lot of love within these four very new and very complicated relationships.

Soriyah and Derek's story. 18+

Miles has always been able to keep his professional and personal life separate. Then he met Gianna Graye.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐑𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢. Book One in the Bittersweet Series. Created: 27/12/18 Published: 16/02/19 Completed: 03/01/20 Edited: As of March 2022 Completed rewrite: 25/01/23